Courmayeur or Engelberg: two small, steep mountains, and what lies beyond the piste
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20266 min read
Our matching engine makes each of these the other's closest resort anywhere, and it is easy to see why. Both have very little piste by the standards of the 55 resorts we cover, both are steep, both draw strong skiers, and at both the real reason to go lies partly off the marked runs.
What differs is everything around the skiing. Courmayeur is the Italian side of Mont Blanc, chic and welcoming, a stone town made for lunch. Engelberg is big vertical and serious freeride near Lucerne, down to earth and snowy. So the question is less about the piste than about what you want above it, and what you want at the bottom at four o'clock. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | Courmayeur | Engelberg |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 1,224 m | 1,000 m |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 2,715 m | 3,004 m |
| Ski area | 41.5 km of piste on skiresort.com's measure. The official 100 km includes off piste | 70 km on the Titlis, 82 km on the pass with Brunni across the valley, by bus |
| Piste we measure around the village | 42 km | 46 km |
| Green and blue | 16 km of blue and easier, 38% of the piste | 19.6 km, 43% of the piste |
| Black | 4.6 km | 4.5 km |
| Marked off piste itinerary | 3.3 km | 1.8 km |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 32% | 31% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 35% | 38% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 72% | 53% |
| Season | December to April | December to May |
| Nearest airport | Turin or Geneva | Zurich |
The middle of the table is nearly a mirror: the same black, the same steep share, piste totals about four kilometres apart. The top and bottom rows are where the two part company, and the next sections are about those.
Size: small on piste, and neither is about the piste
We measure 42 kilometres of piste around Courmayeur, the least of the 55 resorts we cover, and 46 around Engelberg. Nobody should book either for mileage.
Both published figures need reading with care. Courmayeur's own 100 kilometres is, in the resort's own words, groomed slopes and off piste. The pisted figure, measured by skiresort.com and not published by the resort, is 41.5 kilometres, which agrees with ours. Engelberg's 70 kilometres covers the Titlis only. Its pass adds Brunni, which faces the Titlis across the valley with no lift between them; a free ski bus does the crossing, and the pass then comes to 82.
What none of those figures counts is the reason people go. At Courmayeur it is the off piste under Mont Blanc. At Engelberg it is the Laub and Steintäli freeride descents, which appear in no piste total at all. Rank either resort on kilometres and you undersell it badly.
Altitude: Engelberg reaches higher, Courmayeur keeps more above 1,800 m
Engelberg's village is at 1,000 metres, the lowest of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover and 224 metres below Courmayeur. Its skiing then climbs to 3,004 metres by our measure, 289 higher than Courmayeur's 2,715. From the top of the piste we measure at Engelberg to the bottom is 1,997 metres of height. At Courmayeur it is 1,515. That is what the big vertical in Engelberg's name amounts to.
The catch is the shape. Engelberg's piste is spread from top to bottom, so only 53 percent of it is above 1,800 metres. Courmayeur's is bunched in the middle of the mountain: 72 percent sits above 1,800 metres, though only 35 percent clears 2,000. Both count as snow sure on our measure, Courmayeur with 72 percent above 1,800 metres, up to 2,715 metres, and Engelberg with 53 percent, up to 3,004 metres. Nobody can promise snow.
So the snow sits differently. Engelberg has the higher top, a glacier, and a season that runs into May, a month longer than Courmayeur's. Courmayeur has more of its everyday skiing above the line. If you are going late in the season, Engelberg's top is the better bet. If you are going in the heart of the winter, Courmayeur has more of its piste above the line.
The skiing: level on steep, and both point off piste
On the share of piste steeper than one in four, the two are level: 32 percent at Courmayeur, 31 at Engelberg, both above the 26 at a typical resort we cover. Engelberg's 31 is the biggest steep share of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover.
16 km blue and easier 38%22 km red 51%4.6 km black 11%
20 km blue and easier 43%22 km red 48%4.5 km black 10%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Courmayeur 3.3 km, Engelberg 1.8 km.
The gradients add detail. They are averages per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, so read them as how the week feels rather than a verdict on any one run. Courmayeur's blacks average 36.4 percent, the fourth steepest of the 55 resorts we cover and the steepest of the 10 Italian resorts we cover; Engelberg's average 31.0. The blues are gentle at both, 14.0 and 13.2 percent, and both resorts have around 4.5 kilometres of black, so neither is a resort of long black runs.
Off the piste, Courmayeur has 3.3 kilometres of marked itinerary, all of it one long route that drops 883 metres, against Engelberg's 1.8. Beyond that, Courmayeur has the Skyway Monte Bianco above the town, and from the top, guided descents including the Vallée Blanche. Chamonix is through the Mont Blanc tunnel. Engelberg has the Laub and Steintäli, and a glacier. Take a guide for either.
Who each one actually suits
Courmayeur suits a group where the skiing is half the holiday. The town is the other half: stone streets, the pedestrian Via Roma, an aperitivo as the light goes, and lunch on the hill that runs two hours because that is the point. The sunny side above town has friendly blues and reds for the less committed, the shadier Val Veny side holds its snow, and strong skiers take a guide up the Skyway. Non skiers have the town, the thermal spa at Pré Saint Didier down the valley, and the Skyway ride itself. The one thing to know is that you ride a cable car up from the edge of town each morning rather than skiing from the door.
Engelberg suits a group where the skiing is nearly all of it. It is on our list for off piste, glacier and freeride, and it carries the expert label in our data. The vertical, the late season and the descents beyond the piste are the reasons to go; its feel is down to earth rather than smart. It suits strong skiers and freeriders with a guide. It suits beginners and a group judging the week on piste kilometres less well.
The bit nobody tells you
Each has the steepest reds of any resort we cover in its country. Measured, Courmayeur's reds average 24.3 percent, the steepest of the 10 Italian resorts we cover, against 20.4 for a typical Italian red. Engelberg's average 24.0, the steepest of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, against 19.9 for a typical Swiss red. In each case that is about four points steeper than the red a regular visitor to that country is used to.
It matters because red is the biggest part of the piste at both, about half. A confident intermediate used to a typical Italian or Swiss red will find these a step up, and the step is the same size whichever you choose. For a strong skier it is a welcome bit of bite. For a nervous one, it is a reason to look elsewhere.
So, which one
you want the town as much as the mountain: the long lunches, the evening on the Via Roma, a spa day, and Mont Blanc's off piste with a guide, Chamonix through the tunnel for good measure. Also if your dates sit in the heart of the winter and you want more of the piste above 1,800 metres.
the skiing is the whole trip and the freeride is the point of it: the higher top, the glacier, 1,997 metres of vertical on piste, the Laub and Steintäli with a guide, and a season that runs into May.
The piste is no smaller in any way that matters, more of it sits above 1,800 metres, the blacks are steeper, the off piste under Mont Blanc is a reason to go on its own, and the rest of the group gets a town and a lunch worth the trip by themselves. Engelberg is the right answer when nobody in the group would trade a run for a long lunch.